reign of love
by winterpolis
Summary: She's his brother's best friend and he spends his whole life either hating or loving her. NP AU.


A/N: hello, there!

lately, i've been (reminiscing) and reading a lot of OTH fics, and while i've always been a staunch supporter of leyton, the pathan fics around here have made me grow a (really) soft spot for them as well. admittedly, i don't think nathan and peyton had a healthy relationship while they were together in the show; but given enough time and growing up, i honestly feel like they would've made a really strong and solid couple. that being said, here's my first ever fic on the pairing. it's AU so expect a lot of things to be different. nevertheless, i hope you do enjoy!

* * *

prelude

 _mother we just can't get enough_

* * *

Daniel Scott and Karen Roe are pleased to announce the birth of their son

 **NATHAN ROYAL SCOTT**

on this day 7th of August at the Tree Hill Hospital.

Maternal grandparents are Oliver and Cynthia Roe. Paternal grandparents are Royal and May Scott.

Nathan joins his older brother, Lucas Eugene, into the family.

He'd always known that Karen wasn't his mother. In all the meaningful ways that mattered, she was very much so his mother; but biologically speaking, he knew, was another story.

He was six when his parents explained how he and Lucas could be born only two months apart. The explanation came after the boys' curious inquiry as to why their schoolmate Jenny was excited about having a little brother _next_ year when Lucas only had to wait a few _weeks_ for Nathan—not that the elder Scott would remember much of the wait anyway, seeing as to how he had only been a few months old at the time Nathan had been born. Dan and Karen had looked at each other with a worried glance then, asked the two boys to give them a few minutes to discuss how to go about explaining the matter to them, and spent those requested minutes arguing whether it was the right time to tell the boys or not. They'd never intended to keep it a secret; they just hadn't expected to have to come clean about the boys' family tree so early on in their lives. They'd always thought they'd have more time. With a resigned sigh and a silent but brief argument of _you do it! no, you do it!_ , Dan and Karen sat the boys down between them and answered their questions.

Lucas was older by Nathan by only a couple of months because Karen hadn't been the one to give birth to Nathan. _Yes, son, it means that Mommy isn't really your mother._ Nathan's mother was a woman named Deborah Lee. She was a college classmate and good friend of Karen's who had been visiting for the weekend during one of the couple's rough patches. They were in one of their off phases, temporarily broken up and allowed to date other people without actually committing to them. It was also the weekend they'd found out that Karen was pregnant with Lucas. It was a complex relationship— _please, Dan, messed up, is more like it_ —that had become more complex with Deb's visit. On a drunken fit of rage at the sight of some college boy hitting on Karen the night Deb had arrived, Dan had turned to the blonde to forget the sight of the, he was almost completely sure then, love of his life flirting with somebody who wasn't him. Well, that attempt at forgetting had resulted in something none of the three of them would be able to forget: Deb returned to Tree Hill a month and a half later with news that she'd fallen pregnant with Dan's baby. _Yes, son, she was pregnant with you_.

The news had broken Karen, shocked Dan, and depressed Deb, who hadn't expected a supposedly friendly visit to one of her dearest friends's hometown to result in an unwanted pregnancy—a definite impediment to her entrepreneurship dreams. Karen, on the other hand, was understandably crushed with the revelation. She'd always known that she and Dan's off phases had their risks, but she never expected that something so life-changing would actually be the result of those phases, especially with she and Dan having just received similar life-changing news just a few days before Deb had come to town. She'd shut Dan away for a week before even agreeing to finally see him, let alone to talk to him, and even then, it had been curt and brief, almost as if she'd wanted nothing to do with the father of her unborn baby. As for Dan, he had just decided to pursue his dreams of chasing his political ambitions and was even hoping to propose to Karen soon, what with a baby on the way, and now... Well, now he had _two_ babies on the way, a possible ex-girlfriend, and his political aspirations put to the back-burner again for the time being. Needless to say, he was lost.

He had remained lost until his brother had knocked some sense into him—literally. _It means, my boys, that your Uncle Keith had to talk your dad out of doing nothing and just feeling sorry for himself._ After hearing about the troubles his younger brother had gotten himself into, Keith had immediately taken to confronting Dan about his actions. He had never been one for sugarcoating his brothers (many) flaws, and he didn't think he could stand to start then, so he did what he always did when Little Danny Boy got himself into trouble: he talked to Dan about it and through it. By the end of the conversation, Dan had figured out what he wanted and needed to do. He would take responsibility for _both_ boys, try to win Karen back, and seeing as to how Deb didn't want their child, gain custody over that son. The only problems he could see coming up was Karen not taking him back and Karen not agreeing to raising both her and Deb's children.

He had been right. Karen hadn't fallen easily for his attempts to woo her back, especially not after he had brought up raising Deb's child as well. _Seriously though, Dan, what made you think we could raise two boys on our own? It's almost as if you were hoping for twins and got your prayers answered through some sick joke or another_. Whereas it had taken Deb all but an afternoon to agree to hand over full custody of their child once it was born, it had taken Karen well into her second semester to reconcile with Dan. Even then, it had been difficult to earn her trust completely back; but they'd managed to work on their relationship together, taking it one step at a time until some semblance of trust was established again. They'd even agreed to completely do away with the off phases. From then on, they had and would be exclusive, no questions asked. The moment Lucas was born, Karen knew that all had been forgiven. She'd never forget, but she didn't think she had room for grudges or despair in her heart now that this precious little boy had entered her world. _Yes, honey, you were all it took for me to realize that I wanted to bring you up with your father by my side_.

She hadn't been so keen on the idea of bringing up Deb's child alongside Lucas at that point still, but it seemed as if the births of the boys were magical in their own right because the moment she'd laid eyes on a wailing Nathan in the very delivery room she'd been in just two months prior, Karen knew that parentage and the circumstances of his birth be damned, Nathan was going to be _her_ son as well. _Yes, sweetheart, it was love at first sight_.

The talk had gone better than either Dan or Karen had expected, but later that night, Karen had found her younger son picking at the sand by the back porch of their beach house.

"What's the matter, Nathan?"

The little boy remained petulant for all but a moment. He could never keep anything from her for long anyway. "You're not my mommy..."

At his quiet whisper and the tears pooling in his eyes, Karen's heart ached for Nathan. Pulling him into a fierce hug, she ran her fingers through his hair consolingly. "Oh, Nathan, of course I am! I may not have given birth to you but you are every bit my son as your brother is. Deb may be your biological mother, but I'm your _mom_. You're my boy. Nothing will ever change that, you hear?"

Nathan sniffed into her neck. "I love you, Mom."

Karen felt her own tears spill down her cheeks. "I love you, too, son."

* * *

Larry and Anna Sawyer are pleased to announce the birth of their daughter

 **PEYTON ELIZABETH SAWYER**

on this day 19th of June at the Tree Hill Hospital.

Maternal grandparents are Marcus and Tabitha Kent. Paternal grandparents are Harrison and Paula Sawyer.

Peyton Sawyer had always been a quiet child. Born one month premature on a peaceful, summer morning, the curly blonde had screamed her lungs out for all of sixty-two seconds before quieting down and promptly falling asleep. Her father had often joked that she was a spitfire and troublemaker in disguise, deceiving people into thinking she was meek and anything but. She was a paradox of sorts, he'd chided his wife, a perfect example of a book that is not to be judged by her cover. As it turns out, he was right; and his joking prediction would only become more startlingly clear when she met and befriended the electoral mayor's sons at age five.

By then, she had already been playing the occasional childish prank on her classmates when she wasn't busy drawing on her well-worn sketchpad in her own little corner, and it was during one of those attempted pranks that she'd had her first run-in with Lucas. It was recess and all the children had gone out to the playground to play. She, on the other hand, had opted to stay inside in order to execute her next prank. She was in the middle of placing some slime under Mary Catherine's desk when a curious but slightly indignant voice broke the silence of the classroom.

"What are you doing?"

With a startled squeak, she attempted to stand up but in the process, hit her head beneath the desk she'd crouched under. "Ow!"

Running footsteps had made their way to where she sat clutching the back of her head, and in the next moment, a blonde boy a little taller than she was had dropped to the floor next to her. "Are you okay?" Concerned blue eyes stared into hers, and she felt her breath catch in her throat. He had beautiful eyes.

Nodding her head, she stood up on wobbly legs and he followed suit. "What were you doing under Mary Catherine's desk anyway?" _Boy, but was this kid inquisitive!_

Glancing away from him, Peyton muttered a quick "nothing" that seemed unconvincing even to her ears. The boy squinted at her for a moment before dropping his gaze to where her strategically placed slime lay waiting for Mary Catherine to slip upon. His eyes widened. "You're trying to slip Mary Catherine!"

Immediately, Peyton's hands covered his mouth. With eyes wide, she leant close to his face. "Shh! Don't be too loud, she might hear!"

Slowly nodding, Lucas peeled her hand from his mouth to reveal a mischievous smirk. "So you're the one who's been playing all these pranks, huh?"

Embarrassed for some reason, Peyton felt her cheeks flush. Staring at her shoes, she mumbled, "You caught me."

Whatever she was expecting his response to be, it hadn't been delighted laughter. Lifting her eyes from her sneakers, Peyton stared bewildered at the curious boy before her. "What's so funny?" The boy only laughed harder, causing a scowl to mar her pretty face. At the sight of her unhappy pout, the boy stopped laughing at once and cleared his throat. "Sorry, I didn't mean to laugh."

"Then why did you?" she all but spat, crossing her arms across her chest.

"You just looked like you were scared I'd tell Miss Carter about your pranks or something. I wasn't gonna, I swear."

Squinting at him for a moment, she seemed to judge whether he was telling the truth or not. She held out her pinky finger. "Do you pinky promise?"

The boy quickly locked his own finger with hers. "Pinky promise and cross my heart." He drew an _x_ on his chest with his free hand. It made her giggle, and that, in turn, made him smile.

"What's your name anyway?" she asked, their fingers still locked.

"I'm Lucas, Lucas Scott."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Peyton."

"Well, Peyton—"

"Lucas, Lucas!"

The newfound friends quickly broke the pinky-hold and looked up in time to see a lanky brunette boy running towards the classroom. Peyton recognized him as the boy who sometimes threw paper balls at her in class when she figured he was bored. _Nathan_.

"You'll never guess what just happened outsi—oh." Nathan stopped before the two other children, his eyes moving from his brother to the petite blonde beside him. "It's you." Almost immediately, a smirk appeared on his lips and Peyton trampled the urge to smack him for it.

"Yes, it's _me_. What do you want, Nathan?" Peyton's scowl had returned full force, and she hated the way that the raven-haired boy's clear blue eyes shone because of that. She hated how she liked seeing them bright and full of joy, precisely because it was at her expense.

"Nothing," he answered, prolonging his vowels and smirking once more at her eyeroll. "Just looking for my brother is all."

Peyton's eyes widened. "Your _what_?!" As if suddenly remembering that Lucas was in the room as well, she turned her head from one boy to another, back and forth as if she were in a tennis match. The sight must've been pretty funny because the two boys ended up cackling at her, making her scowl return full-force. " _What_?!"

"You didn't know we were brothers?" Lucas had been the first one to calm down. Nathan, his... _brother_...seemed to still need a minute.

"Well, yeah! I mean, you guys don't even really look alike!"

Nathan finally calmed down enough to scoff at her. "Nuh-uh. We have the same eyes."

Rolling her eyes, something she had yet to realize she would be doing _a lot_ in the presence of the Scott brothers, Peyton looked to Lucas as if to say, _Is he really that stupid?_ "Aside from that, you genius. Many people have blue eyes. It's not exactly uncommon."

"If it's so uncommon then why don't _you_ have blue eyes, _Barbie_?"

Affronted, Peyton gasped and got right into the taller boy's face. "You take that back! I'm not some...some cheap plastic!"

Smirking down at her, Nathan shook his head. "Don't wanna."

"Take it back!"

"Nuh-uh!"

"Nathan!"

"Peyton!"

From where he stood, Lucas watched on with a raised brow and an amused grin. It seems like his little brother had a crush.

* * *

 _there's something about you_

 _that tears me inside out whenever you're around_

 _and there's something about you_

 _that makes me fly_


End file.
